After the introductory lessons of the first two chapters, it is time to begin the practical work with the Cisco Classic Network Firewalls. This chapter focuses on topics such as IP address assignment, Command Line Interface (CLI) usage and how to prepare the devices to be remotely managed using protocols such as Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH) and HTTPS.

The contents presented are simple, so if you are already familiar with Cisco Classic Firewalls, you can skip this chapter altogether. If you are just beginning, this chapter's topics are relevant and helpful.

Device Access Using the CLI

Even when planning to manage a Cisco Firewall using a Graphical User Interface (GUI), you probably need to take some initial configuration steps via the CLI. The good news, in this case, is that intelligible and intuitive CLIs have always been a recognized asset of Cisco devices. The CLI is typically accessible through a serial console port or by means of terminal access protocols such as Telnet and SSH. In either situation, a terminal emulation program such as TeraTerm, Putty, or HyperTerminal is necessary.